My Pet Prince Charming
by Roseoptic
Summary: At Ouran, one girl takes falling head over heels a little too literally, and the expression "you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar" has never seen someone so sweet as our Vietnamese vinaigrette.
1. Stolen Baskets

**A/N:** Yo! First of all before you freak, I'm not dropping 52 Pick Up. This story has actually been bouncing around in my head _before_ 52 Pick Up ever sprung from the wells of my imagination. Although the old form of this story was very, very different. Anyway, I'll do an arc of this before resuming the latest 52 Pick Up arc.

* * *

 **私のペット白馬の王子様 (** **My Pet Prince Charming)**

 _Arc One: 赤ずきん (Red Riding Hood)_

 _Chapter One: 盗まれた籠 (Stolen Basket)_

The Ouran Host Club certainly knew how to throw a ball. The chandeliers glinted like stars. The orchestra was playing a lovely waltz. Everyone, boys and girls looked stunning in their suits and dresses. It was only a shame that Loi Tiên was only there as a server. Platter of some sort of shrimp puff in hand, she wove her away around the outskirts of the party, stopping to ask guests who were also on the fringes if they wanted any.

Tiên could tell it was going to be a long night. Serving food wasn't easy. It took a lot of her focus not to spill or drop anything. On top of that she had to be on her feet for hours without break. Plus there was the fact that all of the people she was serving were snobs - to varying degrees to be sure, but they were all still snobs. Honestly, Tiên missed being a waitress at her grandfather's friend's pho restaurant. It had been just as physically exhausting as her current gig, but the people had been nicer. Of course, the pay had been much _much_ worse which was why Tiên took the job at Ouran.

"Tired already, Tiên-chan?" A silky voice asked behind her.

Tiên spun around, her reflexes saving the shrimp puffs from a messy fall. Her low ponytail smacked into the face of her stalker, causing the boy to reel back. Tiên's lips quirked up, karma dealt him a swift return. Her stalker was dressed the same as her, as he was staff like her: tight dress pants, a well ironed white button down shirt, a slim black tie, with a matching black vest.

"Stop being so creepy, senpai." She scolded.

'Senpai' was Onishi Yushin, a college student who was also working at Ouran Academy like she was. Tiên actually found Yushin very attractive. His personality added and subtracted from his appeal in equal measures.

"Don't be so sour, my cute little kōhai!"

Tiên gave him a deadpanned expression. Yushin sighed through his nose and took a spot at Tiên's side, making it look like they were standing at attendance together.

"Why can't you give me that cute starry eyed look and say 'notice me senpai'?" Yushin asked with a long sigh.

Tiên's cheeks flushed slightly and she looked away pointedly, "Because I'm not foolish."

Balancing his plate of deserts on one hand, Yushin reached over and pinched one of Tiên's cheeks, "Come on, say it, 'notice me senpai'!"

Tiên looked up at the taller teen with an unamused look as he pulled on her pinchable cheeks, "Unhand me this instant."

Yushin pouted. "Why can't you be more like him!" He pointed at Haninozuka Mitsukuni who was dancing with a girl. Well, dancing was probably putting it too kindly. More like he was having the girl twirl him in the circle with his feet off the ground.

"I'm confused. You want me to a boy or you want me to act like a child?"

"I want you to be cute little kōhai!" Yushin whined.

"I'm pretty sure Haninozuka-san is a third year."

"What no way!" Yushin did a double take on the petite blonde boy.

"Yup," Tiên reaffirmed popping her 'p' (which always satisfying when wearing lip gloss).

"Huh." Yushin scratched his head, before glancing back down at Tiên, "Here let's switch." He said passing her his desert tray while he took her shrimp tray.

Since Tiên was unwilling to spill she had little choice but to do as Yushin directed, "Why?"

"You're almost out," Yushin grinned, "And you don't like the chef very much do you?"

Tiên frowned, "I can handle him."

"What did you call him?" Yushin mused, rubbing his chin. Tiên knew he remembered her exact words and her cheeks began to heat up in embarrassment, "A sausage fingered letch? I believe those were your exact words?" He asked with a teasing lilt.

Tiên pointedly looked away, out the window at the moonlight garden, "I wasn't wrong."

"And what sort of dashing gentlemen would I be if I let Cinderella deal with a 'sausage fingered letch'?"

"Stop calling me Cinderella. She wore a dress to the ball, not a butler outfit."

"But I bet she didn't look half as fetching!"

Tiên shot Yushin a dangerous look. He raised his only free hand in surrender. "Alright, alright, you're not Cinderella. I'll cya around, Tiên-chan." He said turning to go.

Tiên let out a small sigh. Dealing with Yushin was always a headache and a heartache. He was a shameless flirt but he didn't mean anything by it. Tiên glanced back where Mitsukuni had been 'dancing'. He wasn't there now, in fact, Tiên couldn't spot any of the hosts at the moment. A frown pulled at her glossy lips, Tiên wondered if Yushin's criticism about her was right. Maybe she was too harsh and not very cute?

"Oh and Tiên-chan," Tiên's head snapped up, Yushin hadn't quiet left yet. He turned his head to look back at her, "I was just teasing, I like my kuudere kōhai just the way she is!~"

"Get out of here baka." Tiên responded coldly, glad that Yushin was already walking away before he noticed her face turn red.

If only Yushin was slightly less attractive, then his flirtatious words wouldn't have any affect on her. But really, an older attractive boy hitting on (even in jest) a younger more plain girl really wasn't fair in Tiên's opinion. Her hormones strongly disagreed with her head - which wasn't something Tiên enjoyed. She prided herself on her tight control over her own body and mind and her hormones were trying to mess that up. Tiên wouldn't allow it.

Tiên mused over Yushin's threat to her tight reign on her teenage hormones as she served girls, who had taken a break from dancing, little cakes and treats. Nope, Tiên would not allow Yushin to threaten her control. He didn't even like her like that, she constantly had to remind herself. Yushin flirted with everyone - he had even warned her about it when they met.

 _"Hajimemashite, I'm Onishi Yushin, but you can call me senpai. I'm an outrageous flirt, so try not to fall in love with me, okay?"_ Tiên could still hear his pompous and ridiculous tone. He had played it off as a joke, but there was some truth there.

Not that Tiên had any intention of falling in love. She didn't have time for that nonsense. Besides, Yushin would be a terrible boyfriend. He was unreliable. Tiên was sure she would be the jealous type, anyway (though she had nothing to base this off of). If Yushin dated anyone it would have to be someone who was secure enough not to be jealous. As a younger girl, Tiên would never feel secure enough to handle Yushin's flirtations with other women. Nope, they would never work as a couple her mind confirmed. Not that her hormones fully agreed.

"Cake!" A childish voice cried out alarmingly close to Tiên.

"Omph!" A sudden weight fell against Tiên.

Tiên's feet slipped out from underneath her but before she could fall very far, a strong hand caught her around the middle. Tiên didn't have time to marvel over the swift catch, she had her own responsibilities, such as not letting the cakes fall off the platter. With a swift movement of her arm, she tilted her platter to make up for the unbalance, re-centering the cakes on the platter without any falling off.

"Wow! You have really fast reflexes!"

The firm hand helped Tiên get her feet back underneath her. The firm hand and the childish voice (and the person who knocked into her) was the blonde boy Tiên had watched 'dance' not too long ago, Haninozuka Mitsukuni. Tiên stared. She really had no idea how she was supposed to talk to one of her employers - well one that was also only a year or so older than her and had nearly caused a disaster. She couldn't exactly scold him but it wasn't in Tiên to lie. Should she just treat him like a child of a client?

"Mitsukuni," came the stern voice of the giant who followed Mitsukuni around like a shadow.

"Oh right, I'm really sorry for bumping into you miss. I just really wanted a cake." Mitsukuni apologized, widening his suddenly watery eyes.

 _This club is nuts_ , "It's fine, Haninozuka-san, just be careful. I'd hate for you to get hurt." _Or you know, to throw out my back or something. I literally cannot afford to get injured._

"What cake did you want?" Tiên asked, trying to get the conversation back on grounds that she could handle. If she had to have conversations with strangers then Tiên preferred to have a script to fall back on when her anxiety reared up.

"Oh um.. I don't know they all look so good..." Mitsukuni said, looking at the selection Tiên had. "Which one would you recommend?"

Tiên wanted to die. They didn't let _staff_ eat the cake. "I like the fruitier cakes, so the strawberry shortcake." Tiên tried to make sure her inflection didn't come out as a question.

Mitsukuni beamed at her answer, "Great choice!"

 _Wait, was that a test or something?_

Morinozuka Takashi plucked the slice of strawberry shortcake off Tiên's platter and handed it to Mitsukuni. During the distraction of Mitsukuni cooing over his cake, Tiên made her escape towards the kitchen doors. Yushin was leaning against them snickering.

"Did the little wolf get your basket, Tiên-chan?"

"Basket?" Then Tiên realized she was platter-less. She whirled around and Mitsukuni was running with the cake platter from Takashi. "When did that little sneak grab it? How didn't I notice?!"

"Well you did all but book it away from them," Yushin teased.

"Exploitive brat... taking advantage of my embarrassment!" Tiên seethed.

"You going to fight a wolf, Little Red?" Yushin asked in a teasing tone. His ridiculousness put Tiên off and her temper evaporated.

"Eh, the wolf can keep it." She sighed. There was no way to get it back that Tiên could think of that didn't end with her getting into trouble.

Yushin snorted with laughter and hooked his arm around Tiên's shoulder, "Let's go get your another basket then, Little Red. And don't worry about it, nobody will even notice."

The two ducked back into the kitchen and Yushin distracted the cook while Tiên grabbed another platter of cakes. Of course, upon exiting the kitchen Yushin and Tiên switched back, just in case Mitsukuni tried to pull the cake trick again. The evening passed with no other events - at least that Tiên was directly involved in. Haruhi did end up kissing the queen of the ball on the lips (by accident) which had caused a huge stir.

But the ball ended, and Yushin offered Tiên a ride home, "It's a bit too late for you to ride your bike, don't you think?" He asked, looking out at the dark night with concern. There were cars and creepers and Tiên was prettier then she thought she was.

"You offering me a ride?"

"You live in Kamata right?" Yushin asked, referring to the Vietnamese enclave of Tokyo. It was filled with former refugees from Vietnam. Tiên was only second generation, and was only a fourth Japanese (on her mother's side).

"Yup, I can give you directions." Tiên said, following Yushin out towards the parking lot. They stopped at the bike rack where Tiên's red bike was the only bike.

"Even if he is a tricky little wolf, I gotta say, Haninozuka was pretty smooth putting the moves on you, Tiên-chan." Yushin laughed as he lifted her bike into the bed of the truck he drove to Ouran.

Tiên flushed at the memory, "He's surprisingly strong for someone a head shorter," she grumbled, "And I don't think he was flirting."

"I dunno, Tiên-chan~"

"You think everything is a flirtation," Tiên grumbled as she clamored into Yushin's truck.

"True," Yushin laughed, getting in himself, "But you never notice when someone is flirting with you~"

The truck started after one terrifying second where Tiên was worried it wasn't going to.

"How's school going?" Yushin asked, as Tiên leaned her tired head against the window.

"Ugh... I still have homework."

Yushin made a whining noise, "Me too."

"Half an essay. You?"

"Advanced calculus."

Tiên winced.

Yushin shrugged, "Nothing to be done about it. I didn't expect to have to work this job. Damn that sub-clause." All employees of Ouran Academy could be called upon to work club events. Yushin and Tiên had just pulled the short straws (literally). "The event wasn't all bad though. You should have seen your face when Mitsukuni caught you!"

Tiên glared, "Stop bringing that up."

"Come on, he's kind of cute don't you think? He caught you like a regular prince charming." Yuushin teased, "Do you like the loli-shota type?"

"No, that boy is bad for business. And stick to the wolf references, that's more fitting then a prince." Tiên deadpanned, "This is my complex," Tiên said pointing to a brown brick building.

Yushin pulled over and came to a stop so that Tiên could get out.

"Need help getting your bike?"

"Nope." Tiên denied. It took a bit of effort but she managed to get the bike down. Yushin waited until she disappeared into the lobby before driving off for his own apartment that he shared with two other boys.

Later that night, after Tiên had finally finished her essay and was washing her face before jumping into bed, she found her mind drifting back to Haninozuka Mitsukuni. He had been surprisingly strong for someone so short - and he wasn't _that_ short. Tiên wouldn't be able to wear heels around- _woah_ Tiên back peddled on that thought. Mitsukuni was so out of her league she'd be better off trying to date an angel. Besides, since when was childish and cute something that Tiên was attracted to?

Mitsukuni was nothing like her last boyfriend - Tiên sighed through her nose, that was what this must be about. She hadn't dated anyone since her last boyfriend. Sakura was trying get her to 'rebound' or something ridiculous to that effect. Maybe Tiên ought to take the girl's advice for once, if it would get Tiên to start acting like herself again, it was worth it.

Tiên splashed her face with cold water, "Trouble. Bad for business. That's what any student at Ouran is Loi Cam Tiên," She told her reflection sternly as she pulled her hair out of the low ponytail that she almost always had her hair held back in. Then she flicked off the light and went to bed.


	2. Wolf's Bite

A/N: Look at me, uploading quickly. What sorcery is this?

* * *

 **私のペット白馬の王子様 (** **My Pet Prince Charming)**

 _Arc One: 赤ずきん (Red Riding Hood)_

 _Chapter Two: 狼の噛み傷 (Wolf's Bite)_

Haninozuka Mitsukuni's day had gone pretty well. He had done well on his math test. He had finally mastered a new martial arts move that he would get to test out as soon as he ran into his little brother, Yasuchika. The host Club had a beautiful Garden Tea Party and it had been pretty fun to dress up in traditional clothing. All in all it had been a good day, until he realized he left Usa-chan in the club room. Mitsukuni threw open the door to his limo to dash out to get it. And that was about the time everything went to Hell. Takashi realized what was about to happen before Mitsukuni did, and he grabbed the back of Mitsukuni's shirt to keep him from leaping out of the limo.

No sooner did that happen then a red blur flash in front of Mitsukuni and crash into his limo door. Said red blur was in fact a girl dressed in the school uniform of another school riding on a red bike. As Mitsukuni had parked on a hill that day, the girl's bike was slightly off the ground when it smashed into the door and so it didn't just hit his door and fall over, which would have been bad enough. Instead, its top heavy weight that had hit in the center of the door kept going forward, right over the open window of the car.

Mitsukuni could only watch in dumb horror, as the girl, her hands still wrapped tightly around the handlebars tumbled right through the open window of the limo. One of her hands lost grip after that and both she had the bike hit the ground with a sickening thud. Her bike only narrowly missed hitting her upon impact. Of course, momentum was a thing, so the impact wasn't enough to just stop her movement. The girl went rolling head over heels about half the length of his limo before gravity kicked in, pulling the girl more diagonal, and she rolled on her side the rest of the way, tugging her bike along with one hand the entire way.

Mitsukuni was out and rushing towards the girl as soon as Takashi (who was stunned) let go of him. The girl was a bleeding mess on the sidewalk. Gently, Mitsukuni pulled the girl up into a siting position. Once he got a look at her face he instantly recognized her from the ball. Even through the blood that was gushing from the side of her mouth and through her messy black locks that had been yanked and pulled and mussed out of her low ponytail, Mitsukuni recognized her as the server he had stolen cakes from. Her sweater was ripped and tattered and her hands were scraped and bleeding, and she still had a near iron grip on one handle of her wrecked bike.

"Are you alright?" Mitsukuni asked stupidly.

The girl didn't answer, instead she made a choking noise that sounded something akin to a dying fish or a broken squeaky toy. Mitsukuni winced.

"You're okay, don't panic," He tried too sooth noticing the way her golden brown eyes widened, "You knocked the air out of your lungs but just take your time to breath and you'll be fine."

There were a couple more minutes of choking before her gasps for air were no longer audible. The girl still wouldn't look at him, well she was looking _at_ him but her eyes were unfocused. Mitsukuni cupped his hands around her neck, angling it back. He was trying to get her eyes to focus on him. As a member of the martial arts club, he was no stranger to head injuries. The girl hadn't been wearing a helmet, which was _really really_ bad.

"What's your name?" He asked her gently.

"Loi Cam Tiên." The girl slurred out. Mitsukuni winced, that lip didn't look good and it was even affecting how she was talking.

"That's a pretty name, Cam Tiên." Mitsukuni grinned at the foreign sounding name.

The girl giggled, and slurred something about 'bad for business', but Mitsukuni wasn't sure what she was talking about (or how she could laugh when she was bleeding pretty heavily from the mouth).

"Can you count backwards from twelve?"

"Twelve... eleven... ... ten... ... ..." then Cam Tiên's eyes widened and focused. For the first time she seemed to be really looking at him and seemed to realize what happened. Panic crept into her eyes and her face started to go red. Mitsukuni wasn't sure what she was getting embarrassed about but before he could say a word to calm her down or even tighten his hold on her, Cam Tiên was _on her feet_ and _riding_ her broken bike down the street.

"Hey! Wait! You're injured!" Mitsukuni called after her but the girl didn't even slow down. Mitsukuni was stunned. A girl had never run away from him before. The fact that this girl was in need of help and yet still running was a huge blow to Mitsukuni's ego. He was the most unthreatening guy he knew! Although it was rather impressive how the girl who move so quickly and nimbly despite being injured, plus Mitsukuni wasn't sure how she managed to ride that ruined bike. Mitsukuni watched the bleeding girl disappear down a bike trail.

Yup, in the innocent action of opening his door, Mitsukuni had sent his entire day to hell.

* * *

The next day, the Host Club was a mess. Haninozuka Mitsukuni had hit a girl with his car (door, Mitsukuni was always quick to clarify, he hit a girl with his car _door_ and that was _very_ different). For Ootori Kyoya that would have been bad enough. The Host Club were supposed to be gentlemen. They were supposed to be so high on pedestals that they couldn't be reached by women and men would look up to them as paragons. A paragon didn't hit girls with their car ( _door_ ). What was worse was that there was a _video_ of the ordeal, a video captured by a member of the infernal gossip mongering newspaper club. Said video had gone positively viral.

"Geez," Kaoru whistled as he watched the video for probably the tenth time. "Look at that girl go," Hikaru laughed, watching as Loi Cam Tiên practically shoved Mitsukuni off of her, grabbed her bike, and booked it before either Mitsukuni or the stunned Takashi could stop her. It was pretty impressive reaction time.

"I'm a failure!" Wailed Mitsukuni.

Takashi was trying to cheer the chibi up with cake, but it didn't appear to be working. Mitsukuni was going so far as to _refuse_ the offerings.

"Now, now," Haruhi tried to sooth, "You're not a failure. It was just an accident."

Kyoya flicked his phone closed. "Apparently Loi-san checked into outpatients last night, according to her medical records she's suffering from bruised ribs, a split lip that required stitches, and a mild concussion."

Mitsukuni made a rather pitiful wailing noise and buried his face in Takashi's shirt.

"I'm pretty sure going through someone's medical file is illegal, Kyoya." Haruhi pointed out.

"I don't see why we're making such a big deal out of this," Kaoru shrugged, "Yeah, she's just staff," Hikaru finished.

Haruhi gave them a narrowed eye look, though her stink eye didn't seem to affect the twins at all.

"Loi-san could sue." Kyoya adjusted his glasses, "I'm honestly surprised none of the companies who are in competition with the Haninozuka have made a move on her." Which of course, Kyoya knew because he was monitoring her calls.

"Why would they do that? It was just an accident." Haruhi asked.

"Sure, but there are ways to spin harmless accidents into incidents." Kyoya answered. "And once the media gets a hold of it, it can do a lot of damage. Public image means a lot."

"I'm sure, Loi-san wouldn't do that."

"There'd a lot of money involved."

"Oh well, never mind."

It wasn't a matter of Tiên's honor. For a working girl, it would just be logical to take the deal. Even Haruhi couldn't begrudge Tiên for taking a deal that could potentially set her up for life - neither could Kyoya. However, Kyoya had no intentions of letting it get that far.

"We positively must make this up to Loi-hime!" Tamaki exclaimed, putting one foot on the table. All of Kyoya's talk about reputations and damages went right over Tamaki's head. All he understood was there was an injured princess out there who probably thought a little less of the Host Club - and well, Tamaki couldn't stand for that.

Kyoya sighed, at least with Tamaki in a fit, he could get just about anything he wanted done without Tamaki disagreeing or crossing him.

* * *

Tiên was in pain, but mostly she was pissed off. Everyone had tried to keep her from going to school, but Tiên put her foot down and that had been the end of it. Because everyone knew once Tiên made her mind up about something, there was nothing to be done about it, and she was _going to school_. She couldn't afford to get behind. Her grandfather had won the argument on homework, however, Tiên wasn't to do any, and she had a slip from the doctor so she wouldn't be punished by their teachers about it. Tiên was not happy about her schedule being thrown off. The homework would have to be done _eventually_ , after all.

Sakura watched her friend out of the corner of her eye as they sat through class. The poor girl could barely seem to focus her eyes on the chalkboard. It was out of pure stubbornness that Tiên was even sitting in class, and it just looked like it was making her miserable. What had happened was still a bit of a mystery, both Sakura and Tiên's grandfather had grilled her about what happened, but the girl was tightlipped about the affair. They weren't sure if it was because Tiên honestly couldn't remember (which was a symptom of a concussion) or if she just was being secretive again. Either were equally as likely for the stubborn Vietnamese girl.

It was Sakura's duty to watch out for the girl at school today, and Tiên did honestly need help. She had almost given herself another concussion just by constantly missing where the doorways were. It took both Sakura and Koari escorting Tiên to get her safely seated in the lunch room.

"This is literally the worst," Tiên whined during lunch, resting her head against the cool table.

"Hey, Katakana Girl!" Came the obnoxious voice of Kosuke, who had made it his personal mission since elementary school to be an asshole, particularly to Tiên, "I saw your trip on the internet! There's even a remix to the tune of 'Rolling Girl'! Have you seen it?"

Sakura grabbed her empty tray and wielded it like s a sword. She swung it at Kosuke's face, stopping it just in front of the boy's nose, "Back off," she hissed with narrowed eyes.

Kosuke just grinned cockily until he realized that his backup had fled the moment Sakura stood up. Unlike Kosuke, they remembered elementary school where Sakura had repeatedly kicked their asses. Things hadn't changed much, Sakura was on the kendo team and was more than qualified to kick their asses. Furthermore, though the school discouraged fighting, Sakura's parents didn't. They encouraged Sakura to _stick up for herself_ and to _not tolerate bullying._ Sakure gave Kosuke a grin that promised that she would enjoy whatever Kosuke did next, which was enough to break his false bravado. Kosuke fled right on the heels of his flunkies, calling them cowards, but running all the same.

"You didn't need to do that, Sakura." Tiên sighed.

"Of course I did, Tiên." Sakura shrugged, "I really just want an excuse to start a fight. I'm just using you."

"Well, in the case, use away."

Sakura laughed. At least Tiên's concussion hadn't ruined her dry wit. Tiên had yet to raise her head off the table since she had finished her meager lunch.

"Do you still have a headache, Tiên-chan?" Kaori asked softly, glancing with concern down at her friend.

Tiên nodded miserably. Kaori winced, Tiên had to be in a lot of pain to be admitting that she was in pain. "The pain isn't the worst part," Tiên continued, "I have no idea how I'm going to pay for the bill."

Sakura made a long groaning noise, "Are you going to try to guilt me for dragging you to outpatients? It won't work. You have a _concussion_ Tiên. You can't sleep off a _concussion_." Sakura pointed out, more than a little irritated with her stubborn friend.

" _Maybe_ it _wasn't_ a _complete_ waste to go to outpatient," Tiên admitted grudgingly. Sakura scoffed, "But," Tiên continued, "It doesn't change the fact that I can't afford to pay the bill and replace my bike."

"What are you going to do about your bike?" Kaori asked gently.

Tiên rubbed her temples slowly, "Once I go back to work, Yushin-senpai promised to be my transport until I save up enough to replace my bike."

"What about your parents? Surely they'd help you out in a pinch." Sakura asked. She had never liked Tiên's parents who left her with her grandfather to pursue their dreams. Sakura didn't care if Tiên's grandfather had given them permission; parents didn't leave their kids like Tiên's parents had.

Tiên shrugged, "They're doing research in Guam. I can't call them, they have to call me."

"What are going to do about the outpatients bill?" Kaori asked, sounding worried.

"Sell my body to science?" Tiên suggested, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she sat up.

* * *

 **A/N:** Dude did anyone get my lame joke of having Mitsukuni call Tiên, Cam Tiên? You know because Japanese don't have middle names... *crickets*.

Please review, favorite, follow, and review~


	3. At the Crossroad

**A/N:** I was going to update _52 Pick Up_ before I updated this, but man. I'm having a hell of a time with the next chapter. I finally managed to wrap my head around what I want to do and managed to finish a particularly troublesome scene so I imagine the rest of it will come rather quickly. Anyway, that's my little bit of whining taken care of!

 **Review Responses:**

 _Mamabug:_ Well, thanks for reviewing anyway! They seriously make my days. I'm glad you're like it!

 _AnUnreasonableDreamer:_ I'm glad that you're liking _52 Pick Up_ as well as this story! I'll share a secret with you, my favorite scene so far is Mitsukuni hitting Tiên with his car (door) as well xD. (and there's no such thing as a too-long review ;))

* * *

 **My Pet Prince Charming**

 _Arc One: Red Riding Hood_

 _Chapter Three: At the Crossroad_

When Tiên had jokingly suggested selling her body to science to pay her bills, she didn't expect the truth to end up so alarmingly close to her joke. After school, Yushin had showed up to take Tiên home. He wasn't her first choice, but Sakura had kendo club, Koari was too sweet and naive for anyone to really trust her in a moment of crisis, and Tiên wasn't about to inconvenience her elderly grandfather. So Yushin was picking Yumi up and dropping her off at her house before heading off to work himself.

"Damn, talking about falling hard for a boy too lit -"

"Finish that thought and I'll leave you to Sakura's mercy." Tiên growled irritably.

The two of them were riding the shaky elevator up to Yushin's floor.

"Yikes! You're certainly grumpy," Yushin laughed without taking any offense. Tiên was a bit rude even on her good days, but the splitting headache caused by her concussion had her in even a worse mood then usual. Yushin understood that, and he was determined to be patient with his cute little kōhai.

The elevator came to a shaky stop on Tiên's floor. Yushin moved to step out with her but Tiên pushed on his chest, stopping it, "I can make it to my door, senpai."

Yushin tweaked her wrinkled up nose, "If you say so, Tiên-chan," he shrugged, knowing better than to argue with Tiên when she was in a mood, "Just watch out for wolves."

Tiên flipped him off and Yushin laughed heartily mostly out of surprise as the doors to the elevator closed. Tiên might be in a bitchy mood but she was still a card to be around.

Tiên stumbled more than walked towards her front door. Her headache was blinding and all she wanted to do was lay down. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night. Not only had she been out late at outpatients but her grandfather had woken her several times in the night to make sure that she didn't have any trouble waking up.

The light of the hallway was a bit too bright for her, so Tiên shielded her eyes with one hand and blindly reached out for the door knob of her apartment. Her knuckles hit a soft material instead of the wood of her door.

"Eh?" Tiên moved her hand from her eyes. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust, but when they did, Tiên noticed that there was a rather stern looking high schooler standing in front of her door.

"Who are you?" Tiên asked, she sort of recognized the uniform though she couldn't place it in her fuzzy memory.

"You don't recognize me?" The boy asked sounding somewhat alarmed.

"I have a concussion. I'm fuzzy on faces," Tiên explained shortly. Through the fog that swamped her brain, she finally was able to place the uniform as belonging to Ouran.

"My name is Ootori Kyoya. I don't believe we've spoken personally before but you've been in my employ numerous times."

Kyoya plucked the keys from Tiên's fumbling hands and unlocked the door for her, letting them into the apartment.

"I'm not supposed to let strangers into my apartment." Tiên grumbled, concern sitting heavily on her brow.

"I'm not a stranger. I'm a former employer," Kyoya insisted, ushering Tiên inside. Tiên would never admit that it was Kyoya's guiding hands that kept her from colliding with the end table that hosted the dish for the keys and the answering machine.

"Is your grandfather not home?" Kyoya asked, sounding confused and again, vaguely concerned, though Tiên was confused why some spoiled rich kid would care about whether or not she was home alone, concussion or not.

"He's out playing Cờ Vây."

"What?"

Tiên paused, as her mind slowly puttered through a translation, "Go. He's playing Go.

"I see." Kyoya's glasses glinted in the low light.

It took a couple of seconds but Tiên noticed that Kyoya was messing with her answering machine. No, he wasn't playing with it, he was deleting messages! Her hands closed around her book bag and the next thing Tiên knew there was a thud where her backpack hit the wall near Kyoya's head. Her head was a mess of warring emotions and Tiên couldn't name one of them.

"Don't barge into my house and start touching my stuff," Tiên growled. Her head _hurt_ , and the noise from talking and the effort it took to think weren't making her life any easier.

Kyoya froze, "Alright, Lio-san." The answering machine was still beeping red, there was still a message. "I can see you're still rattled from your accident yesterday."

Tiên's eyes narrowed, "I'm fine," the 'go to hell' was on the tip of her tongue, but her grandfather had raised her to be respectful of guests. Not that had stopped her from throwing her book bag at Kyoya.

"The whole affair is an unfortunate incident that could reflect badly on the Host Club as well the Haninozuka family."

Tiên stared blankly at Kyoya.

"We were hoping of making up for the whole _ordeal_ , by offering to pay for you medical expenses-"

"-and my bike." Tiên broke in, her mind was still sputtering like Yushin's unreliable truck, but she still had her priorities straight.

"Yes, and your bike."

"A _better_ bike," Tiên stressed. Her headache making her bold, "Then I'll delete that message myself. I won't even listen to it."

"And you won't go to any reporters."

"I will take no actions that makes the Host Club or the Haninozuka family look bad."

"Deal."

To be perfectly honest, Tiên wasn't exactly sure what happened next. She had a fuzzy memory of deleting the message and talking a bit more with Kyoya, logistics and what not. The next thing she knew her grandfather was walking her up from where she had fallen asleep in the living room. Kyoya was no where in sight though Tiên found a new number in her phone.

 _What a creep._ Tiên decided she didn't like Kyoya at all. He had somehow managed to make Tiên, the one who had been injured and inconvenienced into the antagonizer. And while yes, Tiên would love to have the kind of money she could potentially get by turning the incident into some sort of scandal, the last thing Tiên wanted was to be in a scandal. (Tiên was confused how simply hitting her with a car door could be some sort of scandal but then, Tiên had never professed to understand rich people).

* * *

The next day, Tiên was at the market picking up groceries for the rest of the day, while munching on sticky rice and green beans when Yushin called her. Her concussion was still there, but she wasn't in a fog like she was yesterday. Though she can still feel how slowly her brain was moving. Tiên, clumsily to her embarrassment, picked up her newly cracked phone. The caller ID said it was Yushin, then her Tiên's brain caught up with her body. Not many of her friends were up at 6 am, but she knew that Yushin had a morning class. He complained about it enough for it to be ingrained into Tiên's head. Under normal circumstances, Tiên wouldn't have even needed to check the caller ID.

"What is it senpai?" She asked as answered the phone.

"You should skip school today."

"Explain." Tiên asked, unsure if this request was crazy or if she was still just being slow.

"Ouran is having its physical exams. Trust me, it's always hilarious."

"I'm not skipping school for _work_ , senpai."

"I'll buy you habanero shaved ice."

Tiên thought about about it. Nobody was really expecting her to be there. Sakura and Koari would likely be skeptical that she would willing to miss school, but then yesterday had been a disaster so maybe they wouldn't think anything of it. As for her grandfather, well, he always expected Tiên to make the responsible decisions and usually left things up to her discretion. Tiên had more than proven herself to him. Tiên didn't often indulge in habanero shaved ice, and to get the promise of it free was very tempting.

"Yeah, alright, pick me up on your way to work."

Yushin picked her up shortly after Tiên dropped off the groceries for her grandfather to put away.

"How was class?"

Yushin gave her a disgusted face, "Too early."

"I get up at 5 every day." Tiên pointed out.

"That's because you're a crazy Vietnamese person."

Tiên shrugged. She couldn't really deny Yushin's claim. She had been getting up at 5 on school days since she started going to school. It was just normal for her. The Vietnamese market was always crowded by five, sleeping in would mean inferior goods for the day.

They stopped for the habanero shaved ice as Yushin promised. Yushin made a disgusted face as he handed it to an excited Tiên. Yushin did not get one himself but instead bought a berry flavored milk. Ouran was only a block away, so they left the car (it wasn't worth going through traffic for) and walked the rest of the way.

"Man, if it wasn't for your adorable face, this would be the most disgusting thing ever." Yushin sighed, watching Tiên eat her treat. He still had no idea how she could eat that and enjoy it, but she seemed to _really_ like it. It was one of life's great mysteries.

"You don't want you're missing out on," Tiên shrugged, a tiny smile tugging at her lips.

* * *

Haninozuka Mitsukuni's day wasn't going well and it hadn't even really started. Well, that wasn't quiet fair. Nothing had gone wrong but he still felt guilty about Tiên. In fact, he couldn't get her out of his head. The Host Club was on standing orders to invite Tiên to the club, free of charge, when they next saw her. Nobody knew exactly when Tiên was going to come back; a concussion was a pretty big deal. Mitsukuni chewed the bottom of his lip, and it was all _his_ fault.

Of course, no sooner was Mitsukuni stepping out of his limo when he noticed Tiên and the boy he had seen her talking with at the ball walking towards the school. All things considered, Tiên looked pretty good. She was dressed in a loose blue tunic decorated with pinkish koi fish and dark brown pants. He could see the stitches in her mouth, and her left shoulder seemed to be moving stiffly, but she was up and moving and looking nice. Tiên was eating shaved ice that must have been lemon flavored judging by its color. Her face was flushed and she was smiling at something the boy was saying to her.

Mitsukuni had been interested in the stoic girl the moment he noticed her exchanging quips with the older boy, who never seemed to be far from her side, at the ball. He had noticed Tiên before but hadn't taken interest in her until then. He had written her off for being sort of cute but too melancholy. However her animated expressions whenever she spoke with that boy had made Mitsukuni take a second look. Her reactions were _cute._ Her deadpanned sarcastic responses that contradicted her expressive face made her interesting. The reason Mitsukuni had bumped into her and stolen the cakes hadn't just been for the cakes (though they were delicious). Mitsukuni had wanted to get a reaction out of her like the boy did, because it looked like fun. Of course, his attempt had failed. She had looked so uncomfortable and had booked it away from him instead of meeting his challenge. Then he had hit her with his car door (a horror he was never going to live down). Again, Tiên had run away from him even when he was trying to help. Maybe she just didn't like him? Mitsukuni shook his head. It wasn't like him to get nervous or be unsure of himself (well, not since Tamaki had started the Host Club). He was going to invite Tiên to the Host Club and she was going to be so overwhelmed by his cuteness that she was going to say yes!

* * *

"Better run, Little Red, your wolf's back for another bite." Yushin snickered.

Tiên glanced up from her shaved ice looking confused.

"Tiên-san!"

 _Here comes trouble_ , Tiên sighed and braced herself. Sure enough, Mitsukuni came barreling into her, throwing his arms around her waist. Her ribs winced slightly, but Tiên weathered through it with grace.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Mitsukuni babbled with teary eyes.

"I'm fine. Thank you."

"I was really worried! You shouldn't run off like that! What if you would been _really really_ hurt?" Mitsukuni scolded.

"I wouldn't have been able to run off then." Tiên pointed out with a shrug and and took another bite off her shaved ice.

It took all her will power to not think about the boy who currently was looking at her very sternly and has his arms wrapped around her. He was cute, which for some reason was getting Tiên more flustered then she should be and that stern look made Mitsukuni look older- like he wasn't a middle schooler. However, interacting with Yushin had made it easy for Tiên to shrug off flirtations and she could blame any flush to her cheeks on the spicy food she was eating.

Mitsukuni blinked twice and then he laughed. Tiên's lips quirked up at the pleasant sound.

"Oh, what are you eating, Ti-chan?"

"You shouldn't-okay," Tiên sighed as Mitsukuni swiftly plucked the spoon from her grasp and took a bite before she could fully put together a sentence to warn him.

"HOT!"

Yushin burst out laughing. Mitsukuni jumped up and down, his tongue sticking out. Yushin's laughter abruptly stopped when Tiên plucked his bottle of flavored milk out of his hand and passed it to Mitsukuni.

"I tried to warn you." Tiên tsked. Though she hadn't tried _really_ hard, maybe she was a little upset about Mitsukuni hitting her with his car door, "You really ought to ask before you snatch, Haninozuka-san."

"Sorry, Ti-chan," Mitsukuni blubbered as he greedily drank Yushin's milk.

Tiên blinked at the cutsy nickname. She wasn't his classmate, so he really shouldn't be referring to her so informally but Tiên couldn't herself to tell him that. Tiên really wasn't good with forward strangers. Unless she got angry or determined enough, she was usually too flustered and tongue tied to handle strangers.

"My milk," Yushin pouted.

"I'm sure, Haninozuka-san can pay you back, senpai."

"But I wanted _that_ milk Tiên-chan! You shouldn't take things that don't belong to you!"

"Tell _him_ no." Tiên pointed to Mitsukuni, who had widened his watery eyes. Without saying word, both Tiên and Misukuni had agreed to team up against Yushin.

"I'm really sorry..." Mitsukuni simpered.

"Gah, it's fine..." Yushin grumbled.

Tiên gave Mitsukuni a wink and was surprised when the boy blushed instead of laughing. _Oh that's right, he's a teenager not a little kid._

"So, Ti-chan, can you come to Host Club after work? I wanted to make up for hitting you with my car door..." Mitsukuni asked, scuffing his foot against the concrete.

"No can do," Yushin shook his head, slinging his arm around Tiên's shoulder, "I got take her right home after work."

"I still have a concussion." Tiên explained.

"Then why are you working?" Mitsukuni asked, his brow furrowing in concern.

"Can't afford not to." Tiên said taking another bite of her shaved ice. Yushin and Mitsukuni winced.

 _Tastebuds of steel_ they both thought.

"Maybe some other time then, when you're feeling better?" Tiên could tell Mitsukuni was biting his tongue about something. He wanted to say something but he wasn't.

"Aa." Tiên said making a noncommittal though affirmative noise.

* * *

 **A/N:** This just in, if Tiên existed in the _Naruto_ world, she'd be an Uchiha. Monosyllable responses are life for this awkward teen.

Not reviewing is like not watering a plant. Sure, maybe you can go a day or so without it but like, that plant is going to die sooner rather than later. And here's the thing, if you guys think I don't sometimes just stare at my inbox as if I can will reviews into existence, then you are _wrong_.


	4. Sheep in Wolf's Clothing

Review Responses:

 _Curlyfr13s_ : I'mma be honest. It took me way too long to figure out what your name meant. And thanks! Mitsukuni has always been my favorite Host (probably because my older sister complex makes me love cute things). I love writing in his p.o.v, although yeah, it's hard. I'm glad you like my attempt at it though!

 _blackcat711:_ Ha! I should put that on the summary 'may induce vomit' - wait a second...

 _SyConstance:_ Haha, glad you liked it!

 _Guest:_ I'm glad, you've liked both my stories!

 _AnUnreasonableDreamer:_ Haha, just a bit! Wow, damn, now I'm starting to get ideas for a Naruto AU. Maybe I'll throw out an omake up at some point.

 _Imaginativequeen101:_ Thanks! Here's your update!

 _Mamabug:_ Slowly but surely these nerds will get more interaction time.

 _PetiteEmperor4:_ Done~

 _INSANITY-BRILLIANCE:_ I'm glad you liked the chapter! And yeah, I'll just stare at my inbox obsessively. It's really a problem xD

 _:_ Haha, I'm glad you like poor awkward Tiên!

Arc One: Red Riding Hood

* * *

 **Chapter Three: Sheep in Wolf's Clothing**

The chandeliers glittered over Yushin and Tiên's head. The ballroom was huge, and it felt bigger with how easily the Ouran staff could fill the room without brushing elbows. Their mission was simple: transfer this ballroom into a clinic. Yushin kept Tiên away from the heavy lifting, which was probably a good thing. Tiên wasn't sure if she could handle any heavy lifting. Most of the heavy lifting was done anyway, right now Tiên was just filling jars with Q-tips.

"Tiên-chan?" Yushin asked, glancing from where he was pushing a cot _exactly_ into place (rich people apparently had OCD about symmetry).

"Aa?"

"Do you think these rich people think this is what physical exams are _actually_ like?" He asked.

Tiên let out a very unladylike snort, "I hope so." She deadpanned.

Yushin laughed, "By Buddha, these kids really live in La La Land."

"Aa." Tiên agreed, her mind drifting back to a pair of big brown eyes. He certainly did live in La La Land, but it must be nice to have that luxury. Tiên isn't so sure she would wish a wakeup call on him anymore.

* * *

As Fujioka Haruhi walked through the transformed ballroom, she had similar thoughts to Tiên and Yushin. _Damn rich people_. She groused within the safety of her own head.

That was about the time she noticed Loi Tiên. Haruhi was vaguely familiar with what the girl looked like, the twins had played the video of Mitsukuni slamming his car (door) into the poor girl enough times for Haruhi to know that slick, black ponytail on sight. The black stitches also made it easy to identify her.

Tiên was dressed in the same uniform all the staff worn, but she wore it a bit different. Most of the staff wore it a lot like Haruhi wore her own uniform, uncomfortably, like it didn't quiet fit against their skin. Tiên, on the other hand, seemed to own her uniform. The suit fit her well, though it didn't do much to show off Tiên's femininity. She looked a bit fierce, in a reliable sort of way. Like you could ask her for help and know that whatever you wanted would be accomplished. She carried herself a bit like a panther did, stalking rather than walking. It was a far cry different from the blushing, anxious mess that Haruhi had seen in the twins' video.

There was also something familiar about her slick black hair and light brown eyes that almost seemed yellow in the light. Haruhi couldn't help but picture Tiên with much softer features, and braids instead of a ponytail - a fuzzy picture from Haruhi's childhood. Haruhi's curiosity got the better of her and she caught Tiên's attention as she passed by. "Sorry to bother you, but you wouldn't have happened to attend Shinanodai Elementary School?"

Tiên seemed to shrink into herself the moment Haruhi addressed her, which made Haruhi feel bad for addressing the girl. The anxious mess from the video wasn't _quite_ back, but it was something akin to it.

"Ah um, yes I did?" Tiên answered, though she inflected it like a question.

"I think we might have been classmates. You were the girl with the braided hair loops, weren't you?"

Tiên didn't quite smile but her lips quirked up and she fumbled with a few loose strands of hair, shoving them behind her ears, "Probably. I wore my hair like that most days back then. I have vague memories of a Haruhi. I can't picture it." She apologized.

Haruhi smiled with embarrassment. It really wasn't Tiên's fault, as she was trying to picture a boy when she should be trying to picture a girl. "Wait, you know my name?"

Tiên's lips quirked, "You're in the Host Club. All of the staff know you."

Haruhi raised an eyebrow then thought about it, and then nodded. Yeah, the Host Club was probably the problem child of all of the clubs. The staff was always having to sweep up their mistakes.

"Your friends," Tiên nodded in the direction of the twins who were walking over with shit-eating grins. Haruhi sighed through her nose and with a quick farewell to Tiên, ran off to join her friends. She felt a little bad leaving Tiên alone like that, as far as Haruhi knew the girl still had a concussion and the boy who was usually never far from Tiên's elbow was nowhere in sight, but this Ouran Academy, it wasn't like anything _serious_ would happen to the girl, right?

* * *

Mitsukuni, Kyoya, and Takashi were walking through the makeshift clinic when a commotion caught their attention. Within a sea of huddled yellow, was a black slip of a girl, sitting on her knees clutching her head. Beside her was a nurse, and one particular female student, both had their arms wrapped around the girl's shoulders.

"Is that Loi-san?" Kyoya asked.

Mitsukuni's eyes widened and his head snapped in the direction of the commotion. _How was it that Tiên always manages to get herself in trouble?_ At least this time it wasn't his fault. Although, given that Tiên was still in pain, it didn't _really_ make Mitsukuni feel better. He and Takashi rushed over through the crowd to get to the crowd with Kyoya walking more relaxed behind them. He fell to his knees gripping the dazed girls shoulders.

Tiên looked just as confused as she had when Mitsukuni hit her with his car door. As if she wasn't exactly sure how she came to be sitting on the ground, or why her head was hurting. While that was never a good thing, for a girl nursing a concussion it was a really bad thing. Mitsukuni bit his lip in worry. He felt strangely responsible for the girl (even though their situations really ought to be reversed since she was staff), but seeing how Takashi seemed to feel the same way (probably from being unable to help her last time), Mitsukuni didn't think it was too weird.

"What happened?" Kyoya asked, his voice cutting through the fluttering panic everyone was in.

"One of the doctors grabbed her and threw her into the wall!" The girl who was sitting next to Tiên answered. "I'm sure he was trying to pull something on her!"

Kyoya and Takashi's eyes narrowed sharply. Mitsukuni felt a cold fury take hold of him. He absolutely wasn't going to let someone get away with hurting her like that, especially if they meant to do more harm. And Mitsukuni had the skills to make that desire a reality.

"Which way did he go?" Mitsukuni asked, his voice serious. That seemed to make Tiên's eyes refocus.

"I'm fine." She tried to reassure, but it was a flat lie that nobody believed.

"He went that way," the student replied, "Towards the special boy's clinic."

Kyoya who had been mostly disinterested, sharpened at that, and the twins and Tamaki also started to panic.

"Ti-chan, you stay here alright!" Mitsukuni instructed giving the girl's shoulder a squeeze before jumping up to his feet. The Host Club took off, leaving a very confused Tiên in their wake.

"I knew it." Kyoya said as they ran.

"Knew it?" Mitsukuni echoed. He had the feeling he was about to hear something he didn't like.

"I saw that man earlier. He was dressed in a white coat but he clearly wasn't one of our doctors. I thought that was a little strange." Kyoya explained.

"Then you should have said something sooner!" The twins snapped as they ran. They didn't have any particular interest in Tiên, but no girl deserved something like that to happen to them, and it could have been a lot worse.

Mitsukuni felt anger stirring towards Kyoya, which was strange because it wasn't Kyoya's fault. Noticing something strange didn't necessarily mean a pervert doctor had broken into the school. Maybe he wouldn't have gotten so upset if Tiên hadn't gotten hurt, but she _had_ gotten hurt. Mitsukuni had the awareness of mind not to take out his anger on Kyoya. He would save it all for the pervert doctor.

So when Tamaki delivered a flying kick to the doctor, Mitsukuni's was right there with him. Their double kicks nearly knocking the doctor out as he crashed into the wall. Of course, Mitsukuni would regret his actions later.

* * *

Karma, Tiên decided was at play here. She had skipped school and gone to work when she wasn't supposed to and now she was sitting on a doctor's cot being examined for head trauma for the _second_ time this week. Yushin, who had noticed that she was missing eventually, had tracked her down and was now standing worriedly at his side.

"Go work." Tiên instructed sourly.

"Yeah, I'm not leaving you cutie," Yushin said with a wink, though his firm voice didn't leave much room for arguing.

Tiên frowned and shrugged as if to say ' _you do you'_. She didn't handle concern well and preferred to be alone through her weak moments, Yushin, however, didn't seem to care about what Tiên preferred.

The doctor finished up. Tiên was fine, well, she wasn't _fine_ but there hadn't been any complications. The only instructions the doctor gave her was to avoid taking pain medications that would interfere with her blood flow and might cause bleeding to her brain (which she had already been told) and to have family members make sure she was able to wake up properly. Tiên sighed at that news, she was in for another sleepless night.

"This is your fault." Tiên informed Yushin as soon as the doctor left.

Yushin's jaw drop, "How? I didn't assault you!"

Tiên made a face. She still wasn't sure what happened. She couldn't remember even hitting her head. Everyone was saying some doctor made a pass at her, but Tiên just remembered being grabbed and how panicked the doctor had looked. But, it wasn't something she was going to argue about.

"I wanted to go to school." Tiên pointed out. She didn't really blame Yushin, but she was feeling petty because her head hurt so she was getting something out of this ordeal.

Yushin's head dropped. He knew what Tiên was doing but still couldn't tell her no. Not when she was sitting so pitifully on a doctor's cot. "What do you want?"

"Dinner."

Yushin sighed, "I'm going to have to take you and your grandpa out for ramen again aren't I?"

"Explosive ramen." Tiên specified.

Yushin sighed, "Fine, fine. You've already been clocked out for work. So I'm going to go clock out and then we'll pick up my roommates then your grandpops, and we'll go out for dinner."

"Aa." Tiên said with a slight smirk. All things considered, today wasn't an awful day. At least, it wasn't if she was getting spicy ramen out of it.

Yushin stepped out of the room, not realizing that instead of making things easy on Tiên, he was actually leaving her at the mercy of the mischievous kami of Ouran Academy.

Yushin hadn't even been gone 10 minutes before the Host Club was bursting into the room. "Ti-chan!" "Loi-san!"

Tiên winced at the noise level and nearly had a heart attack from surprise. Haruhi noticed the wince and quickly scolded the Host Club down into manageable levels.

Mitsukuni flew away from the pack of teens, and ran right into Tiên throwing his arms around her shoulders. Sitting on the cot they were about the same height, without it Tiên was a good half-head taller then Mitsukuni. His arms tightened around her, "Are you alright, Ti-chan! We were all really worried!"

"Too dramatic." Tiên sighed, looking away. She was flustered by their concern. They didn't have to show up and she didn't even really _know_ them. Tiên wasn't used to anyone at this school really noticing her, never mind the heart throbs of the school. To be honest, she wasn't used to _anyone_ outside of her immediate circle of friends and acquaintances taking much note of her.

Mitsukuni pouted at Tiên's dismissive reply, filling his cheeks with hot air. _Cute._ Tiên thought, though she made light of his pouting by poking one of Mitsukuni's air swollen cheeks, causing the trapped air to escape and blow against her face.

"An introduction is in order!" Tamaki exclaimed. The next thing Mitsukuni knew he was being pushed aside while Tamaki took Tiên's hand about to begin in a long speech.

"That's not necessary." Tiên broke in. She didn't know what theatrics he had in mind, but if they got too flirty or rowdy Tiên was sure she would end up embarrassing herself, and besides she _did_ know all of their names.

"Ehhh?" Tamaki made a noise of distressed confusion. He probably thought the introduction was the best part.

"I work for the school. I know who you are." Tiên deadpanned.

"Ooooh?" The twins purred. It was Tamaki's turn to be pushed out of the way, but Mitsukuni found himself increasingly frustrated with being shoved further and further away from Tiên. "Can you name us then?" They challenged.

"Kaoru and Hikaru." Tiên replied without indicating who was who. She was fairly certain that's not what they wanted, but she wasn't going to just let them have their way. At least not when "their way" was embarrassing her.

The twins tsked, "That's cheating, Tiên~"

Tiên wanted to turn invisible or melt. It was hard enough being in the spotlight without them teasing. Talking to Mitsukuni was one thing. Once someone hit you with their car (door) you could probably call them an acquaintance, but the rest of the Host Club (excluding, maybe, Haruhi) were pretty much strangers to her.

"Oi! Who said you could be so familiar with her?" Haruhi's voice came from the back of the crowd coming to Tiên's rescue. Unfortunately, she was ignored by the twins.

"We should play the 'Who's Hikaru' game!"

Their challenge was unfair, and they knew it, and the unfairness helped Tiên to find her voice (and her backbone). "You're identical twins." Tiên pointed out with an eye roll, "I'd need to know you better, first."

The twins exchanged a look. Nobody had ever answered their call to play the game like that. They either just agreed or said it was impossible. Tiên didn't know but she had broken the mold, just a bit, but enough.

"Well, my beautiful princess," Tamaki was once again on his feet and pushing his way through the twins to grasp Tiên's calloused hand, "We would love to cordially invite you to the Host Club!"

"Your stay will be on the house," Kyoya put in from his place in the back of the room.

 _Absolutely not._ Tiên didn't do crowds in general. Going to market was hard enough and she _knew_ everyone. They expected her to sit and talk to them with strangers, strangers who would be sitting there _judging_ her? Yeah, maybe when pigs flied. "Sorry. Yushin-senpai promised me spicy ramen."

"But Ti-chan! You have to come!" Mitsukuni had managed to wiggle his way past the twins and Tamaki and was so bold as to _sit on the bed_ next to her, tugging on her hand insistingly.

Tiên shrugged and made sure that she focused on how childish he was and not the fact that a teenage boy was sitting next to her on what was basically a bed, holding her hand, "Some other time." She insisted in her same placid, bland tone.

"Wow, Tiên-chan. I leave for five minutes and I come back and you have a harem."

Tiên's eyes snapped up. Yushin had made his grand re-entrance. _I'm going to kill him._ Tiên decided, her face slowly turning pink. _I don't care if he's cute and my only work friend and buys me spicy food when he wants something. I'm really going to kill him._

"A h-harem?!" Tamaki choked about falling over as his noble Host Club was delegated to the status of reverse harem. The twins cackled at their boss's distress.

Tiên gave Yushin a sour look.

"Oh, did I read the situation wrong? Does Red need a rescue from a pack of wolves?" Yushin asked casually, though with a rather large smirk.

 _Wolves? Red?_ The Host Club wondered at whatever inside joke the two close friends' had.

Tiên reached up and smacked Yushin on the back of the head.

"Oi! That's no way to treat a guy who's dating you and your grandpa out for dinner."

"You owe me."

"That's beside the point!"

* * *

 **A/N:** Has anyone else noticed that when it comes to sexual assault, the anime goes from 0 to 60 real quick? Not even once, like three times at least. Always find that very jarring, but hey, angst!

Before anyone says that this is too convenient, I would like to say that to my knowledge Haruhi had never moved in her life and neither has Tiên. They both live close enough Ouran to work/go to school so it stands to reason that they might have gone to the same school. However, a school is a big place, so that doesn't mean that they really _knew_ each other.

Explosive Ramen is served at the Misoichi chain of ramen eateries in Tokyo. They're called "explosive ramen" because they're made with an entire Chinese soup spoon of ground chili pade. As we've established, Tiên likes her food spicy.

I've noticed that while _52 Pick Up_ rarely breaks from Yumi's p.o.v, _My Pet Prince Charming_ is rarely in Tiên's p.o.v. Not sure why, it just seems to work.

Annnd, damn I made a joke about symmetry which made me think of Death the Kid and now I'm getting ideas for a Soul Eater AU (I am literally trash)


End file.
